Turin

The original structure of the ghetto of Turin was located near P. San Carlo and included 5 courtyards linked by covered passageways called Dark Porticoes; there were 527 rooms in all with shops located on the ground floor. The gate at no. 5, Via Maria Vittoria was the heart of the ghetto with an Italian rite temple, a school, and a basement ritual bath not far from the Spanish rite synagogue.
The Ghetto nuovo gate at no. 2, Via des Ambrois, was the 3rd German rite synagogue.
The modern synagogue is located near Porta Nuova railway station. At Via Sant'Anselmo and Via San Pio V there is a square named for the Turin writer, Primo Levi.
Turin has had four Jewish cemeteries since the 15th century. Today there are seven Jewish sections in the town cemetery.

In 1424, a small group of Jews settled in Turin, much later than other places in Piedmont. Hints of the growth of the population here are evidenced by the University area where a Jewish cemetery and kosher butcher were located. From 1430 on, the Savoy Statute declared that Jews had to wear a badge but that Christians could not hit or insult them. While Jews lived separately from the rest of the population, it was never actually enforced in over 200 years. There was a ban on new synagogues, and in 1679, this first Piedmontese ghetto was established (others followed starting in 1723). The "vecchio ghetto" included the former Hospice of the Carità, Via Maria Vittoria, Via Bogino, Via Principe Amedeo and Via San Francesco di Paola. The block of San Benedetto was added in 1848 as the population grew. In 1848 after emancipation work began on a new synagogue. The Mole Antonelliana proved too costly and as a result was ceded to the city in 1875 in exchange for land to build a smaller synagogue. The community here is large and active and includes the cities of Alessandria, Asti, Aacqui, Carmagnola, Cherasco, Chieri, Cuneo, Ivrea, Mondovi and Saluzzo. In the old ghetto we can still find the community building which houses two synagogues, a library, social center, the community offices, a school, and a rest home.